Welcome to Survival of the Fittest, a RPing board loosely based off of Koshun Takami's Battle Royale, with its own unique plot and spin on the 'deadly game'. We've been around quite a while, and are now in our thirteenth year, so don't worry about us going anywhere any time soon!

If you're a newcomer and interested in joining, then please make sure you check out the rules. You may also want to read the FAQ, introduce yourself and stop by the chat to meet some of our members. If you're still not quite sure where to start, then we have a great New Member's Guide with a lot of useful information about getting going. Don't hesitate to PM a member of staff (they have purple usernames) if you have any questions about SOTF and how to get started!

As Matt walked back towards his computer, he heard Logan define a twink to Rebecca. That's hardly what a twink is. Whatever, have fun coked up on the Circuit in five years.

Matt arrived at his computer, and saw the Brit watching intently as Saintvicious continued to dominate the game. "Um, so, I should turn this down a little. I didn't realize that I had forgotten to plug in my headphones, and I wouldn't want to disrupt people further."

As Matt leaned over to lower the volume on his laptop, he ask, "So, you were saying your mates call you what?"

Rebecca watched as Matt rejoined his companion. Given the derisive way he had said twink, she was positive that Matt didn’t mean anything at all that Logan had said. But at least the whole thing had been settled without anyone getting in trouble. Although the whole situation did, once again, reinforce that Matt Vartoogian was a thoughtless, self-absorbed asslick.

“We were talking about your new sketch,” she helpfully prompted, pointing at Logan’s sketch pad. Tossing her head to resettle her hair behind her, she leaned forward and tapped her finger on his paper. It looked like it was shaping up to be on par with the fabled blue feather dress.

“You were explaining to me about your latest creative inspiration. And,” Rebecca drawled out the word, “you were going to help me figure out what a four letter word that means ‘it might end with beverages’. That’s the clue I’m stuck on.”

Logan gave Rebecca a wide grin as the volume on the computer behind her lowered. He glanced down at his sketch which was beginning to actually take shape. He’d decided that it was going to be sleeveless and was imagining it in black and purple. Logan had taken a liking to Hawkeye, even if he’d spent half the movie on the wrong team. He added a small ruffle and then put his pencil down to look at the effect.

“It appears Hawkeye, is my inspiration at the moment,” he said. He took one of her proffered grapes and popped it in his mouth pondering her clue. “Date,” he said. “It could end before it starts, or sometimes there’s a nightcap at the end of the night. What letters do you already have?”

"Um, that asshat Logan decided it'd be funny to launch a spitball at me instead of just telling me that I had neglected to use my headphones. I do that sometimes, forget to put them on when I'm not playing." Matt glanced back at the odd couple, which appeared to be engaged in some conversation, probably about some vapid topic that would bore Matt to sleep.

Matt paused for a second, not quite sure how to address the question about League of Legends. Sure, he could just answer her question with a simple, two word response that was the name of his favorite champ, or he could articulate a long point about the state of the wide range of champs he could play or was learning to play. After all, he was planning on going pro, and being a professional meant not being able to get banned out by the enemy team's four champion bans. Geo seemed like a nice girl, and one who knew about the game, so Matt figured he might as well tell her something that he had't really told that many people.

"I'm a jungle main. I learned playing a lot of Warwick and Amumu back when they were the only junglers, and jumped over to Nocturne and Jarvan when they came out. My favorite champ to play is probably Jarvan, but I'm really good with him, and I really need to work up a few of my other junglers for when I try to get on to a team. Lee Sin is incredibly in right now, and I just have never managed to get a handle on the guy. Even smurfing, I still have a hard time performing well with him."

Matt decided that he shouldn't dominate the conversation; just because it was about his favorite thing in the world didn't mean that he had to be the only one speaking.

"He seems like a bloody idiot..." she said and looked over at the other boy.

As Matt began talking, Geo quickly became impressed. The boy was clearly a superior player compared herself, and he'd been playing for FAR longer than she had. She mostly played for enjoyment, but she wasn't entirely in the dark. She was well aware of what a Jungler was, and all of the champions mentioned she'd either played or faced herself.

"Hmm, yeah, Jarvan is pretty cool. He's killed me plenty of times, I can tell ya that much! Heh..." she responded, and then pondered her own favorites.

She smiled."Well, Singed is pretty fun to play. I get to totally steer the flow of a lane, and throwing some turret-diving cunt straight into the turret again when they realize their mistake NEVER gets old!"

She let out a giggle of delight over all the times people had sworn at her for doing just that. Ah, the memories.

"Other than that, I love me some Wukong, and Twisted Fate." she continued. "Wukong because of his escape abilities and quick attacks - I usually go all in for Attack Speed just for fun, and Twisted because of his unique card throwing stuff, and the range he has with his Q ability. A well aimed hit can bring down a stupid player running into the line of fire with low HP and-..... Sorry, I'm ranting again, aren't I?"

She smiled shyly. She rarely got this talkative with strangers, but computer games made her feel safe and most importantly, confident.

V5 characters:

Travis Webster - Whistling party animal with a roguish smile, quick wit, and without a care in the world.

Rebecca shifted uncomfortably as Matt and his little friend kept looking over at them and whispering. She frowned as the other girl began giggling. Since she and Logan weren’t doing anything remotely entertaining, the only reason for them to be acting like that was because they were talking about them. What the hell was their problem? Matt had been the one forcing everyone to listen to their childish video game. Okay, so, yeah, Logan had launched a spit ball, but didn’t Matt show off and try to loom over Logan?

As if that maneuver had been successful in the least, she thought with a snort. If you were going to try to intimidate people by looming and looking down your nose at them, it generally worked better if they weren’t a half foot taller than you. Plus, Logan generally didn’t seem to care when people were trying to intimidate him. Or when they were talking about him.

But she did. She hated it with a passion. Except, unlike Logan, Rebecca wasn’t comfortable calling people on it. She really wasn’t very good with conflict. She left that to people like Logan and Leona. She nervously ran a hand down her vest, giving the bottom a little tug to smooth it. It was then that she realized Logan was talking to her.

“Oh, I, uh,” she stammered, “I – I don’t have any letters yet. Maybe I should just try a different section of the puzzle. Come back to this part later.” Her cheeks flushed red as she realized how ridiculous she was being. So what that stupid Matt and his stupid friend were talking about them? She shouldn’t care in the least, right? She shouldn’t let the two of them ruin her lunch. Except that they had, and she really didn’t want to be here anymore.

“Oh, would you look at the time?” Rebecca said, attempting to sound casual. She didn’t want to give Matt and his horrid companion the satisfaction of knowing she was leaving because of them. “I really should go get my afternoon books from my locker before the hallway gets crowded. You want to come with?”

Rebecca stood up slowly with as much dancer’s grace as she could muster. Smoothing her hands over her skirt, she methodically began to gather up her things. As she leaned over to pick up her grape container, she whispered to Logan. “Why don’t we go to the library or something? You know, where there aren’t stupid videogame junkies getting their fix?”

Logan glanced over at Rebecca as she talked about her crossword and noticed her fidgeting. Logan turned his wrist slightly to check the time on his watch.

“Rebecca, sweet pea, I’d be happy to accompany you to your locker. But we have plenty of time. Just sit there, enjoy your grapes, and finish your crossword. I’m not about to let some gamer nerd intimidate me. Besides I seriously doubt people are actually going to start something here in the cafeteria, especially after those losers last week lost prom.”

He glanced over to the two teens behind them, “Besides they seem to be thoroughly wrapped up in their geekery I think we’re safe for the time being.”

Listening to Geo talk, Matt could tell that she was a casual player. Someone who played the game only for fun, not to be the best. Not that Matt found there to be any problem with that, it just meant that he would have to be a bit careful in how he talked about the game.

Matt was a top-tier player in the game. When season one had ended, he had fallen just short of 1900. The exact rating didn't mean much, all it meant was that he only had a gold badge for the forums instead of a platinum badge. Not that it mattered, the forums were full of idiots whining about elo-hell and what was overpowered. Only bad players blame their shortcomings on things out of their control.

As such, Matt knew that he shouldn't bring up anything about Geo's skill in the game. He was better than her, unless she was secretly a 2k elo player acting like a scrub, and that skill difference was probably a function of the amount of time each of them had put into the game. Matt had spent most of his free time playing, getting better, since the game's release, and he now was neglecting to do some of his homework and going to bed later to get in those extra few games each day. Sure, his teachers didn't necessarily appreciate him falling asleep in class from time to time or just not handing things in, but his grades didn't matter anymore if he simply passed his classes.

"No, no, it's fine," Matt responded. She was rambling a little, but it was apparent that she found the game fun. "Singed is a pretty fun champ. I can't play anything top lane to save my life, but jungle Singed is actually pretty good. A bit hard to get at first, since, like, managing his poison with the creeps is a little tricky, but still really fun."

What Matt left out was that Singed was actually a terrible top lane pick, and that if he played top lane he would never dare pick Singed. The minion damage nerf had ruined the passive top laners, and Riot never rebalanced them. Singed had left the pool of relevant top lane champions in favor of more aggressive champs.

"I don't have too much experience with TF and Wukong. TF is a pain to play against, though, but I love having one on my team when I'm Nocturne. That ultimate synergy is too strong. Wukong I don't see so much, unfortunately. He's not that popular of a pick for some reason, even though he's pretty strong."

(( First of all, I am SO sorry for being so slow. I've been busy moving from one country and then I forgot and... ugh! Just... I'll be better next time. Promise :3 ))

Jiji? Who the bloody hell was Jiji?

It would seem like the boy was a LOT better than Geo at League of Legends, or at the very least, spent a lot more time in the game.

"Can't say I have, no. Is it good?" she answered with a happy demeanor.

Maybe Matt could teach her a little bit about the game. Make her better at playing her characters. Not that she ever considered competing in any form way. Gaming was a hobby. She wanted to become an actress, not some bloody MLG gamer girl for people to oogle.

"Maybe we could play together some time. I mean, you seem to know a lot about the game, so maybe you could teach me some stuff?" she said with a smile on her lips.

V5 characters:

Travis Webster - Whistling party animal with a roguish smile, quick wit, and without a care in the world.

Rebecca watched as Matt and his video game nerdette talked about whatever lame-ass game Matt had been blaring and she had to agree with Logan. Those two really were completely wrapped up in their game.

Well, Matt was wrapped up in the game. She watched the girl smile at Matt, seemingly focused on him. Was she….

Was she flirting with Matt Vartoogian?

Rebecca’s eyes widened as the realization hit her. Matt and his “friend” had been talking about her and Logan, but really the joke was on the girl “bonding” with Matt. There was a snowball’s chance that Matt was actually interested in her the way she appeared to be interested in him.

She bit her lip to keep a giggle from escaping. Oh, it was just too much. How embarassing. That girl was hitting on gay Matt. Rebecca had to get out of here before she lost her composure completely and broke down laughing.

“Logan,” she began in a choked whisper. Her cheeks flushed at the effort. Rebecca bowed her head and tried again. “Logan, I have to get out of here. I can’t watch that girl hit on Matt. I’ll die laughing.”

In as normal a voice as she could muster, she asked him. “Are you coming?” Glancing out of the corner of her eye at Matt and his “friend”, she giggled. Turning quickly, Rebecca headed for the exit.

Logan looked up as Rebecca’s mood changed dramatically. “What,” he asked then glanced over to where Geo was sitting. “She’s not, is she,” he asked looking closer.

He stood and by the time he’d collected his things Rebecca was halfway to the door. “I’ll be right there,” he called. “I need to do something first.” He picked up his backpack, slipping his pencil into the side pouch and walked around the table towards the gamer nerds.

As Logan walked past them, he stopped, bent slightly, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Just a little bit of friendly advice, Geo sweetie, you’re wasting those marvelous skills on this one. He isn’t interested in your type of wiles.”

With a friendly smile he straightened and followed Rebecca out of the cafeteria.

"Jiji is one of the top AP players in the world. His TF is terrifying, it's like he's always in every lane at the most opportune moment. The few times I've run into it were... rough."

Matt smiled at himself at the last statement. Last fall, when season 1 had ended, his elo was just low enough where he was barely out of range of running into pro players when he practiced. But recently he'd been climbing, and would run into them in solo queue. Granted, to get better to the point where he was able to do this required a lot of sacrifice on his part; along with a decline in his grades, his previously modest social life reduced itself to nothing. Prom was coming up, and he was probably going to skip it to get more practice in. It's not like he'd have a date or even liked parties very much, so the amount that he cared about prom was roughly zero.

Then she asked if they could play together some time. Matt knew that playing with her would be a frustrating venture for him, given that he would just be better to the point that it wouldn't be interesting for him. Still, it'd be rude to bring it up, and he'd probably just screw around for those games and try not to overload her with every little mistake she made.

As he said this, Matt saw Logan approaching their table. The fuck could he want now, Before Matt could utter a word, Logan was already saying something to Geo. Someth–

Wait, is she hitting on me? Matt had never been good with telling when people were flirting, especially with him. This was something that had just always been true about Matt: By as much as Matt was naturally talented at academics and video games, he was inept at social interactions. Time had made him better at it, but he still tended to miss certain cues.

Matt couldn't immediately think of a good response to the situation, so he simply raised one eyebrow and waited for Geo to say something.

Matt raised an eyebrow and looked confused, but Geo just shrugged it off. What was the big idea anyway?

That was when that other boy came up and said something that surprised her greatly.

"Just a little bit of friendly advice, Geo sweetie, you’re wasting those marvelous skills on this one. He isn’t interested in your type of wiles."

He then left with a smile on his lips. Geo had no idea what he was talking about. What the hell was she missing? "Her type of wiles"? She was just trying to make a friend!She shrugged it off and turned back to Matt.

"That was weird... WELL! It was great meeting you, Matt! Talk later online! Bye now!"

She grabbed her bag and headed off from the lunch area. She had made a friend who could actually teach her some LoL! And she had managed to procrastinate away an entire lunch break.Sweet!

Matt was relieved Geo seemed to have no idea what Logan was talking about, which was good; Matt didn't want to have to deal with some girl being romantically interested in him, even if that girl seemed nice and seemed like she would make a good friend.

Geo left before Matt could give her his summoner name. Matt would just add her, and she would probably be able to figure out who had sent the friend request.

Matt looked at the time on his computer and saw that lunch was about to end. Well, that was an eventful lunch period. At least I got those problems done. The reality was that Matt's homework had been done fairly sloppily, much like the rest of the school work he had been handing in since his decision to try to make his living playing video games. Still, completed was good enough for him.